‘Name Tata Teleservices as 2G case co-accused’

New Delhi, April 27 (IANS) Tata Teleservices should have been named co-accused in the second generation (2G) telecom spectrum case and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh listed as a witness, a counsel for one of the defendants told a court here Wednesday.

Majid Memon and Vijay Agarwal, the advocates for Shahid Usman Balwa, the promoter of Swan Telecom, said this while arguing before Judge O.P. Saini, who is presiding over the special court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

“The CBI should have named Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as one of the witnesses in the case,” Memon said.

“The statement of Rakesh Mehta, who was the then chief corporate regulatory officer of Tata Teleservices, was recorded.

“Mehta, in his statement, said that two senior officials of Tatas at that time were extremely busy in preparing the necessary documents and completing other formalities for getting licenses as our application was pending,” he said.

Memon said that by Mehta’s statement, it was clear that Tatas too had applied for licences, but its top officials were not in the jail.

“Then why should my client be behind bars,” Agarwal said. “Make them also co-accused in the case or else release Balwa.”

Memon and Agarwal said former communications minister A. Raja and the prime minister had exchanged several letters between them.

“CBI is producing letters of Raja and the prime minister as evidence. They should have made the prime minister a witness in the case,” Memon said.

“Raja was in regular touch with the prime pinister and he regularly apprised him about the development in the department,” he argued.

According to Memon, the probe agency in its first chargesheet had mentioned that Raja misled the prime minister.

“However, this statement should have been given by the prime minister instead of the CBI,” he said.

Memon said that the offence under which his client has been charged does not fall under the category of grave offences punishable by life imprisonment or death penalty.